The Situated Self: Migrancy, Personhood and the Finnish Nation

Peter Holley’s study focuses on social and political relations of expatriate Finns residing in Western Europe and North America. Firstly, it aims to explore the different social resources of individual actors, informal networks and ‘expat’ associations in constructing and maintaining a Finnish diaspora community. Secondly, it aims to analyse the ways in which Finnishness is articulated amongst this diaspora community and the ways in which various political and cultural claims are made by different actors. Moreover, by analysing the symbolic importance of a Finnish identity to emigrants and their associations, this case study aims to provide new understandings of the mobilisation of political and cultural capital in a transnational arena.